 Today we're going to talk about the 10 things that I think that you need to think about or be aware of before you consider moving to the U.S. especially if you're a New Zealander because there are totally different ways of doing things and you may be surprised by a couple of them. So here we go. We are a family of six. I have moved to New Zealand from the U.S. and have been here for seven years in this channel. We just share what we've learned, our journey and if that sounds interesting to you, subscribe below and hit the bell and you'll get a video every week. I also want to say thank you to Emma Sleepbed for sponsoring this video. If you guys are looking for an amazing night's sleep, check out the Emma Sleepbed. So I've been getting a lot more clients lately asking, they're from New Zealand and they're moving to the U.S. and they want some feedback and some help with that. And so I thought I'd make this video because it really kind of brought up a lot of topics and I kind of summarize it into 10 things that I think that you need to think about and things that are going to be quite different moving to the U.S. And so the first one that we talk about and of course it all depends where you move. So generally when I meet a client I'm like, where are you moving? Because it's every state is different. It's the United States but they're also very different in how they're run and there's pros and cons of each one depending on the topic that we're talking about. So when you're moving to the U.S., what I say to New Zealanders because I understand the culture here is that don't plan on your kids scootering to school, walking to school. Plan on driving them and picking them up from school unless they take a bus. And of course that varies depending on where you are in the U.S. So it's hard to generalize the U.S. because it is a very big place. But I think culturally, like as a New Zealander going there and just thinking that it's okay that they walked on the street or that you can take your eyeballs off your kids, not a good idea. Just generally as a general rule of thumb, not a good idea because it's just not the same. It's just not the same. The safety level isn't the same. It's just, you know, like you don't put little kids on like public buses or not that they do that too much here, but like a school bus is fine. But like public transportation is different. Just know that you're probably going to be driving your kid and picking them up and then running them all around to sports and extracurricular activities because a lot of the stuff that's done in the schools here are done as extracurricular outside of school. And so as parents, generally as American parents, you will run around a lot more taking your kids to things, picking them up to things then I've noticed living in New Zealand because a lot of things like sometimes their music lessons can be done during school or their drama lessons done during school, which doesn't really happen too much in the US. And of course, this is a generalization and this is just my experience. I'm from Wisconsin and yeah, it's cold there too. So we'll talk about that as well. So that's my first point. Just know that your kid walking to school or, you know, being able to walk home or to just scoot her down to, you know, the local shop. We all know New Zealand's expensive, but one of the most shockingly expensive things when I first moved here was how expensive your beds and mattresses are. So since then, I've been on the hunt for a really decent mattress at a reasonable price. So I've checked out the Emma Sleep mattress for you because a lot of you are moving here and it's just better to probably buy when you get here or if you're looking for a decent bed here is my honest review. In addition to the prices being so good for this mattress, we also love the 120 night free trial that you get to test it out and the 10 year warranty on a mattress, which is amazing and free delivery. When my husband and I first tried it, we thought it was a little bit firm, but then as time went on, it kind of conforms to your body and you literally wake up with no aches and pains, but you can order a topper for the mattress if you want it to be a bit softer. I also love that my husband can move around and get up and I don't feel a thing. My community gets an additional 5% off the already sale prices online for both Australia and New Zealand. You're going to want to check it out today. In point number two, kind of going on the concept of driving, you just expect to drive a lot more. Now depending on where you live in the U.S., there is public transportation, but it's not widely accepted like it is in New Zealand and known as a very safe place. So many times when I say that my child is taking the bus home or taking the train home, my family members in the U.S. are like, what? Because it's more dangerous there to do things like that. And the public transportation can be dangerous, especially if they're young. So you definitely would have put a middle school or primary school kid. They're teenagers that might be different. And of course, depending on what city you're in, it doesn't mean a school bus is okay. But just, I guess my point is just plan on driving a lot more. Traffic is a lot worse, you know, depending on where you are. And you just, I just think you're going to need a car. Like I think that people can get away with just taking public transportation in New Zealand, but not the same. Things are farther apart there. And you just driving more often or there's a lot of traffic. So even though it's maybe five minutes away, you could have 20 minutes of traffic if you're in Chicago, for example. So I think that that's quite different. I love that the public transportation is an actual option. Like for me in Wellington, I can take the bus, I can take the train, I can take the ferry across to the city, not quite the same. But depending, certain cities in the U.S. are going to be better. But overall, like for example, if you're from Europe, it's probably a lot better for public transportation. But just in the U.S., not great. So definitely check it out, whatever city that you end up moving to. Number three. Okay, number three, let me explain. There's so many situations, so I'm not going to be able to highlight all of them, but you're going to notice that you'll have limitations because of the liability issues in the U.S. So because it's more of a suing culture, there's a lot of liability, which means people aren't allowed to do things. So like you'll find that kids' parks are quite boring because they can't do a lot because somebody might fall off and break an arm and that's heavy liability. So then therefore the liability insurance is really expensive and then so we don't have it. Just because I understand New Zealand kids, they like to jump off wharf to say like to, you know, climb high things and jump off and that's not going to go over well. That like if you were like climbing a building and yeah, that's not going to go over well because that causes huge liability issues for the owner of that. And so I'm just making you aware, like what you might just think is normal is just not going to be okay. So you're just going to find that there's just a lot of limitations on what you can do. Like even when you go to fun places like an amusement park or Disneyland or whatever, like you can't do that, you can't do that, can't do that because of liability issues. So and number four, you will be inundated with politics, whether you want to talk about it, whether you want to hear about it, you will be inundated on the TV, on the radio, on the conversation with people, people will be passionate, people will be mean, people will be all of these emotions that will kind of shock you about politics. So there's no getting around it. And it adds a whole another level of frustration and stress. Like when I talk to my clients, Americans that are coming here and they're just like, the politics is going to kill me. And you just, it's just a, it's a cultural thing that I can honestly say I've lived in New Zealand for seven years is not the same. Like you could choose to talk about politics here, you can't choose there. You're going to talk about it. It's going to be a part of something. People are going to want to know what you think. There's good luck. Maybe some people have figured out how to get around it and it just kind of, and it just kind of is this like heavy burden on you because it's just like it's always there and it's, there's a lot of negativity around it. There's a lot of people saying all these crazy things that comes can stress you out. So just be aware that there's no avoiding politics. And number five, and I hate to break it to you, but you're not going to have a lot of time off at work. The work-life balance, not valued. Work, valued. Time off, not valued. So in New Zealand, like whether you are casual, a part-time, you know, permanent, you get mandatory, you know, four weeks of holiday off, you don't get that. You don't, you get whatever the company is that you are working for gives you. And some of them do give really good holidays. It's not everywhere, but it's the small majority does it well. The vast, the small minority does it well. The vast majority does not. And so just be aware of that. It's a big, big, that's a big cultural difference. And like expectations at work, I could probably do a whole video on that. So I won't touch on that, but the expectations totally different. Like they'll say your job is from nine to five, but then like you leave at five and everybody else is still there and they're all looking at you and you're like, what's happening? Yeah, cause you're expected to probably work till seven, but you're only paid till five. And if you're late to work, not okay. They're not reasonable. Like here it's like, like, you know, so it causes a lot of stress in your life because you're like, oh my gosh, like sometimes like your kids sick or something happens, flat tire and you can't get to work. And like here, that's all reasonable there, depending on your job. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it's not. So just be aware of that. They're just much more, you know, losing your job is a common thing as opposed to a very uncommon thing in New Zealand. So just, it's just, there's so many things I can probably talk about this, but let's just talk about time off. Time off, you're not, you're going to get maybe two weeks and you're not really expected to use them. Okay, number six, similar to the time I kind of hinted on this is like, they're not easy going. They're not relaxed about things. Oh, you didn't hand this in time too bad, it sucks to be you. That's the attitude. So it's just like, so what that does is like, you can't be late, you can't miss the deadline, you can't, you know, and so it puts this whole extra stress. So here, like I remember once being late for work in New Zealand, they're like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I was in traffic and they're like, oh, no worries. And I'm like, wait, what? You know, and so life happens and it's not all situations, but in general, like I know how laid back New Zealanders are, and it's just not going to be that way. It's going to be very fast paced. People come and go really quickly. Let's say they come over to your house and they're going to leave in a half hour. They're not staying for four hours or overnight, you know, like kiwis are very hospitable and very, you know, just stay and enjoy and share and things don't have to be perfect and it's not quite the same. So they're just not easy going. There's so many scenarios I could talk about about that, but not easy going. And number seven, the stress is a lot higher. So with the easy going and not easy going, then the stress is a lot higher. And it's a lot of things. It's the negativity of the news. It's people carry guns. There's guns around. That's stress. Some states have open carry and you can just see it. What you're hearing is a New Zealander in the news in terms of school shootings. There's a lot, right? But there's way more that actually happened that you know when you live there. And so you're just kind of in this constant state of like, am I going to the movies and going to get shot up? Am I, you know, am I going to go to this big concert and like there's actual worries about that happening or even running a marathon? Like so many situations have happened. And so it causes this whole, whole level of stress that I honestly don't experience at all here. You know, like you can send your kid to school and not worry about it. So, and that's a big one. Like my clients are like, that's number one reason why they want to leave because they're having kids and they're now having to send them to school and like, are you serious? Like there's an actual chance they go through active shooter training even at, you know, daycares. You know, like it's very, it's this whole another level of stress. So that's definitely something to think about. And like, yeah, just having guns, I think that that's going to be a big shocker for New Zealander is just seeing people with guns all the time. And it's just, it's a different world. Okay. Number eight, be prepared for a lot of holiday craziness. Okay. And it will happen months before the holiday happens. So right now, what are we in February? So there's a, there's, you know, Valentine's is ending. We're, we're gearing up for St. Patrick's Day in March and then, you know, Easter stuff is already out. Like we are, we're already out. So it's so many things. So we're gearing up for every holiday and there's just stuff that you can buy to put in your house for every holiday. And everybody goes crazy about the holiday, which actually causes a little bit more stress because there's now there's expectations that we do something or that we buy something or that we participate in something. It's just be prepared for holiday craziness. It's just up a couple of matches compared to New Zealand. And number nine, be prepared for the food to taste quite different. And there's going, there's literally a lot of ingredients and very common snack foods in the US that are literally banned in Europe, banned in Australia, New Zealand, like not good for you, but somehow, you know, they're okay in the US because I'm going to get me started anyway, but just plan on the food. Tasting different produce will taste different. Eggs taste quite different. Things are going to taste different. And when you go out to eat, it's huge quantities, lots of salt, very sweet. I mean, good. Don't get me wrong. Like it's good, but not always good for you. So just be aware of that. Everything is going to taste quite different to you in the US and just probably become very aware of what's in the food there. And you actually have to care about that. Like in New Zealand, I don't really care about that. Like everything's, everything in New Zealand is relatively organic compared to like what you're getting in the US. Like if you go to Walmart or whatever, it's not. And you know, if you are, if your kids are growing up, but you know, there's a lot of things to think about. Um, so just become aware of that to educate yourself and the additives that are all put in a lot of the snack foods in the US and that anywhere else in the world. In number 10, I have to mention this. And of course this isn't the case everywhere in the US, but you need to be aware of how cold it can get depending on where you live. Like, and what I mean also is that people function in that coldness. Like they're going to school, you're going to work, you're driving in the snowstorm. You're, you know, it's just, it's very normal. People don't stop doing things. It has to be pretty bad. But if like you're in Florida, which doesn't get snow and then they get snow, then they'll freak out because they don't have, you know, the machines and the resources to handle it. Like you would expect in the Midwest, like, man, it's cold. It's cold. It's cold. And when you have, if you live in parts of the country that have four seasons, it looks quite different than New Zealand. Like New Zealand is green all year. You can, perhaps all year, all different flowers, all amazing gardens all year. That's not the case. Um, if you're in the colder parts of the US. And so depending, think about that. But know that your house will be warm. Okay. Your house will be warm. It's not like New Zealand, the insulation, the heating systems, because it's really cold, really cold. And like all the stuff that you need to get your kids on to go to school or to go anything, it's a, it's a whole thing. Or even when the snow melts, it's, oh, the spring is crazy. So yeah. So be aware of the cold and be prepared for all of kind of the stuff that you need for that. So, you know, I can help you with that if that's the case. Really, I can help you with any of this. So like if you are finding that you're moving to the US, go ahead, book an appointment with me. I'm happy to talk about it and give you some insight because I really think that would help. It always helps to have, you know, a little heads up in going, so there's so many things that are new. But in order to function and to do really well, I can definitely help you.